With a wide-open weekend and endless hours to linger over eggs Benedict, syrup-laden French toast, piping hot coffee, and boozy beverages, nothing suits the day better than brunch. Boston readily embraces the weekend ritual with all-you-can-eat brunch buffets, baklava pancakes, and an endless parade of dim sum. Here’s a sampling of excellent Boston-area brunch options, a mix of neighborhood mainstays and some newer spots worth exploring.
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14 Top-Notch Brunches Around Boston
Stacks of pancakes, endless dim sum, crispy fried chicken, and more

The Neighborhood Restaurant
Classic breakfast options and huge portions abound at this aptly named neighborhood restaurant in Somerville’s Union Square. Eggs, French toast, home fries, pancakes, omelets, and more are all on the menu at the family-run restaurant that has been around since 1983. The Borges family’s Portuguese roots show up in some of the dishes. A must-have is the Cream of Wheat, which also comes as one of the appetizer choices with any breakfast selection. Venture onto the handwritten specials page of the menu for huge, flavor-packed pancakes, French toast, and more. Breakfast starts at 7 a.m. daily.
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Monument Restaurant & Tavern
Soaring ceilings; handsome, rustic wood; and brick walls make for a relaxing backdrop to one of the most loved brunches in Charlestown. Saucy birria breakfast tacos, fluffy lemon and poppyseed pancakes, and breakfast pizza are all on offer alongside buckets of prosecco, cinnamon toast brunch cocktails with cereal milk, and more. Brunch runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Reelhouse
In anticipation of warmer days ahead, how about brunch on the waterfront? Reelhouse’s seafood-centric version includes shellfish towers, eggs Benedict with salmon cakes, and cinnamon sticky buns. Brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Vincent's
Vincent’s, run by the same team behind hip Jewish deli Mamaleh’s, does a Texas-style brunch on the weekends that is worth rolling out of bed for. Here, the brunch spread includes breakfast tacos served on housemade flour tortillas, saucy tortas, and puffy kolaches baked with sweet and savory fillings. Brunch runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday but get there early if you’re eyeing a kolache, as those typically sell out before the day is done.
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Strega North End
It’s no surprise that glitzy North End hot spot Strega knows how to throw a rollicking brunch party. On Saturday and Sunday, head to Hanover Street for chicken and waffles with spicy maple syrup, peperonata omelets, a towering burger topped with a fried egg, and champagne by the bucketful.
Brookline Lunch
The name is a bit of a misnomer; Brookline Lunch serves breakfast and brunch all day in Cambridge (on Brookline Street, to be fair; and sure, there’s lunch too). Under the current ownership for over 30 years but dating all the way back to 1937, this old-timey spot has become especially popular in recent years for its pancakes, especially the baklava pancakes, which were originally meant to be a special but jumped to the regular menu. The rest of the breakfast menu is full of eggs: omelets, Benedicts, and such. Open six days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.
Branch Line
This Watertown standby, known for its rotisserie chicken (and killer beer list and bocce on the patio), serves a weekend brunch full of favorites: the restaurant’s essential sugar snap pea salad, half and whole rotisserie chickens, breakfast sandwiches, and more. Grab a pint of ice cream or sorbet, too. Brunch runs Saturdays and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Lulu's Allston
Available seven days a week until 3 p.m., Lulu’s brunch menu features a lot of booze, draft cold brew, and hearty food options like breakfast totchos, a “meaty masterpiece” omelet, short rib mac and cheese, “white trash hash,” a variety of Benedicts, burgers, and more. Brunch starts at 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends.
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Winsor Dim Sum Café
Get an early head start or prepare to wait for a seat at Winsor, a snug Chinatown restaurant known for its excellent dim sum. Don’t miss the turnip cakes, spareribs with black bean sauce, and preserved egg and pork congee, all on the $5.69 dim sum menu. Service starts at 10 a.m. daily. Cash only. (If you prefer your dim sum whizzing by in carts while you’re seated in a banquet hall, nearby Empire Garden and Hei La Moon are great options.)
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Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen
Buckle in for an all-you-can-eat jazz brunch fest at Southern comfort food favorite Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen. Unlimited quantities of eggs, fried catfish, cheddar grits, and waffles await for $25.95 per person (for adults), $22.95 (for seniors), or $19.95 (for kids ages 6 to 12). It’s only available on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Publico Street Bistro & Garden
Publico’s brunch is a choose-your-own-adventure of sorts: Go big and boozy with bags of doughnuts and alcohol-spiked breakfast frappes, or just relax over a tasty plate of hot chicken Benedicts blanketed in the restaurant’s special hot sauce hollandaise. There’s also year-round patio seating in the restaurant’s interior courtyard, outfitted with a retractable roof.
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Lincoln Tavern & Restaurant
With both weekday brunch and weekend brunch, this South Boston cafe’s menus are jam-packed with sweet and savory options. From the griddle, the fruity pebble pancakes — which have become somewhat of a signature dish for the restaurant — are doused in a cereal milk anglaise, and there is brioche French toast topped with berries and cream. There are plenty of options leaning in the lunch direction as well, from entree-sized salads to wood-fired pizzas. Brunch starts at 10 a.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. on weekends, and goes until 3 p.m.
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Nos Casa Cafe
Seafood for brunch is never a bad choice, and Cape Verdean restaurant Nos Casa Cafe has delicious seafood in spades. Cod fish croquettes, flaky pastries stuffed with tuna, and the famed Cape Verdean stew cachupa all make for an excellent start to the day. The restaurant opens at 7 a.m. six days a week. Closed Sundays.
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Brassica Kitchen + Cafe
Brassica’s crispy, crunchy fried chicken is legendary around Boston. Get it at brunch via a hefty plate of fried chicken and waffles, but don’t stop there. Grab a fluffy, thick doughnut from the pastry case near the door and then order a feast of great brunch-time dishes, from the white bean pupusas with chili crisp to the compulsory cheesy corn cachapas.
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